Coffee-roaster.



F. A.W|LCOX 6L G. H. McINTIRE.

COFFEE ROASTER.

APPLICATION FILED Ame. 191s Patented Mar. 25, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Groff@ IVe/aviaire.

F. A. WILCOX 6L G. H. McINTlHE.

COFFEE HOASTER.

APPLlcArloN FILED APR. a. 191s 1,298, 1 30. l Patented Ma1-..25,1919l z/ zz 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

@Howl/7 eri T FFIGE! .examinaron A. WiLcoX erin oponen 1n. Meriva-2mn, or sroxaim, WAsHINGToN."

assiGNonsoFoNn-rrrrnn iro a. r. svirznn, 'or sPoKANE, WASHINGTON.

Lean-reo.'

ton, have invented certain new and useful l mprovenieiitsin Coffee-Roasters, of which theolloiving is a speciication.

'The present invention relates toiniprovements infcoff'ee roasters, and isdesigned es pecialiy lor the purpose of providing a coinpact .apparatus or machine whereby the green `colee niay be treated and vprepared for delivery to a Customer, with rapidity and despatch. Il`he machine is especially applica- `-bleior use in a grocery or similar store whereiiitbe green coffee may be measured, roasted, and finally delivered in a package as .ground codec, ready for use, and dispensed to :the customer. As a spectacularmachine or lnovelty. device the apparatus may be in- `closed iii a glass case and when exhibited to the public will be interesting; and attractive as it conveys the green coffee to the roaster,

. cools theroasted coffee, stores it, Weighs the amount requiredygrinds the coffee and deposits the ground coffee in a bag crother receptacle.

'Provision is also made for eliminating the 'odor of the roasting coffee by thoroughly washingthe fumes as they come from the 'roaster7 and ythe huslrs and chaff are also 'removed and thus prevented from deteriorating the codec.

In the accompanying drawings one complete example of the physical embodiment of 'theeinventioniis illustrated wherein the apparatus is 'constructed and arranged ac- "cording,v tothe best 'inode' so far devised for the practical application of the principles of the invention,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of ,the coni 1 plete. ni'a'chine'- embodying .the invention. Fig-21's a vfront elevation or-'the machine. 4'5

Fig; l 3 isla 'transverse',fsectional .view through the 'roasting and cooling cylinders,

showing'the heating' and cooling devices-for the respect-ivecylindeis.- i Y F ig. el 4is "a longitudinal Ysectional view at one end Vofi-.the vroasting cylinder, show-ing the testing device and the outlet Qa-tefor the ''cylinderz Fig. 5 is a top plan view or the package receiver Which receives coffee Jfrom the grinder.

Speciloati on of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 25, 1919.'

Application filed april 8, i918. Seria1No.227,308.

Fig. 6 is a sec-tional view lof the vacuum reservoir or hopper from. which the green coffee is fed directly to the cylinder for roasting. v l

As before stated the machine is usually incased in a glass inolosure, but the inclosure has been omitted fromthe'drawings for convenieiice of illustration, 'and the complete, compact-1y arranged apparatus is exemplilied in its preferred forni, as supported upon a main frame indicated by the numeral l which applies to all parts of the machine.

Near the' 'base of the machine is located` a supply hopper in which the green colee is deposited and from which it is dravvnto the feed hopper 3 by suction through the pipe l and 'fan 5. The feed hopper 3 is located at the top of 'the frame, and the pipe '1h-Which is provided with a reeulating valve 6, extends there-from to the fan as shown.- The fan-is driven through its sha-ft2 7 gear 8 on the main shaft 9, and smaller pinions 10 and 11, the latter on the motor shaft 1:2 of the motor 13.-

T he motor 18 is properly supported on the frame and yis electrically driven to operate the moving parts of the apparatus as will be described hereinafter. The supply liopper 2 has a clean 4out door le at its lower end where the pipe 15 is connected and this pipe is the means of conveyance, by suction, of the green coffee from the supply hopper te the feed hopper, both the coffee conveying pipe and the suction pipe being ,attached or connected the feed hopper near its upper closed end. The feed hopper is preferably an air-.tight receptacle, having a. plate 16 disposed horizontally therein between the points Where the suction pipe and-the codec carrying pipe enter the hopper, tol prevent the suction from carrying oil' tlie'.cotlee beans From` the eedhopper. ,Dust, chaff, etc.,hovveveigfare carried downward from the vfee,dfliopp'erthrough ipeft'o the 'Washing cliainberfl loffltedbe ovvV theinoto, and

, this chamberl partiallyiilled'fvwith ivater `and provided with a series fof, capillary screens y18, i arranged' vertically therein fand Ycomposed of materials of suitable fabric to" filter the fumesthat are broughtthere from the roasting cylinder, to be described. t, y

From the feed -hopperthe green coffee is passed by ygravity through the spout 19 to the roasting cylinder v20, and to preserve the vacuum in the feed hopper, a special con- A Istruction is provided -at the of the feed hopper. A pair of slide gates 2l and 22 are utilized, and lthe 'rst bottom 23 ofthe -hopper forms an auxiliary chamber 24 below the hopper. By means of the pivoted lever the feed'hopper while the ate 22. is closed,

then by means of the han le Aand lever the position of the gates may -be reversed and the coffee passes from the feed chamber 24 throughthe spout .to the roasting cylinderl 20,-without opening the feed hopper to break the vacuumvtherein. f

The roasting cylinder 20 is of perforated'V sheet lmetal supported and'revolved on they Shaft 29 journaled in the frame of the machine, and through the gear ring 30 at one end, and the pinion 31 on the shaft 32, the cylinder 1s revolved, power being conveyed from the motor through driving shaft 9,

sprocket 33 on this shaft, sprocket chain 34,

- s rocket wheel 35 on shaft 36, sprocket wheel 3 lon shaft 36, sprocket chain 38,v and sprocket wheel 39 on shaft32. c

' rlhe interiorwalls ofthe cylinderare 'provided with nietal blades 40, to stir the coffee beans as they are being roasted and tumbled from the feed hopper 3. Preferably a casing f about in the revolving cylinder which, as be fore stated receives the green coee beans or housing ,41 is provided for the roasting cylinder l and non-conducting material is provided at 41 for insulation to prevent radiating of heat,4 from the electrical heater indicated at 42which is located beneath the lower half of the -revolving cylinder. The fumesand smoke from the roasted coffee .are

collected in the housing above the cylinder and are carried ofl' from there through the smoke pipe 43 which extends from the housing above the cylinder, over to the vertical suction pipe 44` which opens into thev fan casing 45 for a second fan on the fan shaft 7, and the additional pipe 46 extends from the fan-to the smoke washing chamber 17, so that the fumes are drawn from the roasting cylinder by the fan and driven through the screens 1S in the washing chamber where all smoke, dust, etc., are eliminated by their'passage through the moistened filtering screens 18, and outlet through the openlng 47 from the washing chamber.

After the coffee beans have been suiiciently roasted they are tested or inspected, and for this purpose ahandle 48'is provided 1n one end `of the cylinder, and inside the cylinder a cup 49 is pivoted to the handle, the outer end of the handle projecting suiciently to be grasped by the hand to withdraw the handle and cup sov that the beans 1n the cup maybe inspected in the usual 'mannen-1 Preferably cylindrical vplate 50 vis .provided beneath the electrical heater below the roasting cylinder, tojreflect .the heat units towardthe cylinder, and this ...plate also serves as a guide down which thev dust, chaff, etc., passesto the central channel 1 or trough 51, in ,which the' extraneousniaterial is gathered, and from whichit 'passes out through thepipe'43. 'l 'After be'ng properly roasted-the coffee beans 'are then cooled, and for Ithis-purpose'.

a lsecond revolving vcylinder 52- is utilized, the same being journaled-on" shaft' 53, and

'revolved from the shaft 36 through` the gear ring 54, and bevel pinion 551011 the shaft. water tank 56 is provided near the top of the apparatus and the pipes 57 and 58 are.

lconnected with the coil 59 located ljust. above the cooling cylinder 52, s'o that when the roasted coffee passes from the roasting cyl.

inder, through the spout 60 to the cooling cylinder, the water circulation carries olf 'theA radiatedheat lfrom .the coffeein the cooling cylinder. The roasted coffee is admitted to 1 1 the spout '60. from the roasting cylinder by means of the controlling gate or` valve 61 'which controls the opening 62 in one end of the roasting cylinder.

After beingl cooled in the cooling cylinder, i

the coffee is passed. therefrom through the:

downwardly inclined. spout 63 and to the receiving -hopper 6.4 for the roasted coi'ee,

from whence it may be disposed of through the bottom door or gate 65, as desired. Pref'- erably however, Vthe coffee beans are'further treated in this machine, and'tothat end they are conveyed from the receiving hopper, by suction, upwardly through the pipe 66 to the' reservoir 67 near the top of the machine, and in which a vacuum` or partial vacuum is created by means of the suction pipe 44 before described. From the reservoir the coffee may be admitted to the weighing device indicated at 68 which includes the successively venlarged cylindrical inclosures 69, 70,

7l, and from the last mentioned inclosure the weighed-coffee passes to. the coffee grinder 72 which'is operated from the shaft 7 by means of the sprocket chain 73 and suitable sprocket wheels, which are'controlledl by the clutch device indicated at 74, and from the grinder the ground coffee passes-by gravity to the housing 75 or rather t'o a receptacle 76 lin the housing to be deposited in` a bag or wrapper as desired.

From the above description taken inconnection with the' drawings 'it will be vapparent that the coffee is taken in the green state and elevated by .suction from the supply to the storage tank, during which movement extraneous matters areseparated from v the colfee, vand the ,green coffee passes, byl

gravity, from the feed tank tothe roasting cylinder which revolves abovethe electric heating. element:` :The smoke andvapor.

arising from the roastin operation are carried off through a sma opening in the hood of the roaster, and when the coffee has reached the proper brown', it is vdischarged into the revolving cooling cylinder over the cooling box which covers approximately one half the area of the lcylinder to al-flow admission of the cool air to the cylinder. After the coffee has been roperly cooled, it is dumpedinto the disciarge hopper and conveyed therefrom to the elevator -tank from which it is conveyed by suction through the glass tube to.` the vacuum storage tank for the roasted coffee. The roasted coffee is then weighed, automatically, and sold, either in packa e before grinding, or is admitted to a co ee grinder, and `then after grinding, is packaged and ready for sale.

a What We claim is:-^ f

l. The combination in a coffee roastin apparatus includin `a roasting cylinder, of a cooling cylinder elow the roastin cylinder to receive roasted coe'e there rom, a lower hopper and spout receiving coffee by gravity from thecooling cylinder, an elevated reservoir and means for conveying the cooled roasted coffee thereto, and dispensing means coacting with said reservoir.

The combination in a coffee roasting apparatus with a roasting cylinder, a cool-- ing cylinder to receive roasted coffee therefrom, and a motor for revolving said cylinders, of a supply hopper and a feed hopper,

4and Suction means actuated from the motor for conveying reen coffee from the supply hopper tothe eed hopper.

3. The combination in a coffee treating apparatus with a revoluble roasting cylinder Sand a revoluble coolin cylinder in communication and means or revolving the cylinders, of a heating device for the roast ing cylinder, Aand a. cooling device for the cooling cylinder combined as described.

4. The combination with' a coffee roasting cylinder and its heater, of a coffee cooling cylinder adapted. to receive coffee therefrom, and means for revolving the cylinders, a Waterv circulation pipe system `about the cooling cylinder, and means for supplying coffee to the roasting cylinder and Withdrawing cooled coffee from the cooling cylinder.

5. The combination with a roasting cylinder, of an elevated feed hopper and a supply hopper'and means for creating a suction in the feed hopper for conveyin from the supply hopper4 to the feed lgaopper, a spout from the feed hopper to the cylinder, and'means for maintaining the suction in the feed hopper While ermittin gravity coffee Y discharge of coffee there om to t e cyline der.

6. The combination with a roasting cylinder ,of a feed hopper and a discharge spout from thev hopper to the cylinder, said feed hopper having means for formin a lpartial vacuum therein. for conveying co ec thereto, andsaid hopper formed with a false bottom and a pairl of oppositely operating,

gates to 'control the exit of coffee therefrom as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signa tures. 4 FREDERICK A. WILCOX.-

GEORGE H. MCINTIRE. i 

